


Bumblee Bee Birthdays

by CastielsProfoundBees



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Angst, Birthday, Dean buys cas a cake, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, brief mentions of abuse, bumble bees, dean is a sweetie, depressed!cas, not graphic though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 19:39:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6719053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielsProfoundBees/pseuds/CastielsProfoundBees
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was Cas’s first birthday since they were together. It was also the first birthday Cas had gotten since...well then. It was suppose to be a surprise; it was suppose to be special and he was going to be late, Dean realized with a certain clarity. He glanced at his watch, another time just to reassure himself that it was indeed almost 9 o’clock. If he could’ve just gotten home maybe an hour earlier, he might’ve made it. Yes, he had the cake and he had the present, but it was too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bumblee Bee Birthdays

He was going to be late, Dean realized with a certain clarity. He glanced at his watch, another time just to reassure himself that it was indeed almost 9 o’clock. If he could’ve just gotten home maybe an hour earlier, he might’ve made it. But it was too late now. Yes, he had the cake and he had the present, but he was late. It wouldn’t matter now. 

 

Earlier That Morning

 

“Boy where you been?” Ellen called out, coming to drag Dean practically by the ear and into the bakery. “Thought you’da forgotten or somethin’”

“Sorry, Ellen. Got stuck in a meeting,” he replied with an easy grin, trying to calm down Ellen. “How is the cake coming?”

“Ya’ know I’d never disappoint you. Come look at it yourself,” 

Dean walked through the bakery and past the glass counter that held pastries among pastries. He stepped into the kitchen and was assaulted by classic rock music and flour being thrown every which where. It was nothing new for him, he’s seen this very same situation many times before. Once the flour had settled, he could see that Jo, Ash, and Gabe were working today. He had known Jo and Ash for quite sometime, since he was a kid infact. But Gabe was someone new and he and Dean didn’t seem to get along all too well. Every time Dean had approached him Gabe was sucking on a lollipop and asking about Dean’s brother Sam. 

“Here she is. Isn’t she a beauty?” Ash says, walking up to the honey, vanilla tier cake that Dean had wanted made. The cake had two tiers, but it was relatively small, enough for at least a small gathering of people. But there wasn’t going to be a small gathering, it was just going to be him and Cas.

The cake itself was a bright baby blue color that just so happened to be Cas’ eye color. Around the edges of the two tiers were icing piped Daisies, Lilies, and Iris Flowers. Dean had spent a good hour deciding the flowers with Charlie, another good friend of his. In the end he had chosen Daisies because they mean innocence, Lilies because they mean devotion, and Iris Flowers because they mean new beginnings. On the top of the first tier was ‘Happy Birthday’ with a few bumble bees on it. 

When he had first asked for Ellen to make it, she thought it was a joke. Dean was never very into, as he would call it, ‘Chick-Flick moments’. But Ellen soon realised that this was definitely something Dean wanted done, so she made it without further question.

“It’s perfect. He’ll love it, thank you,” Dean said to them in the most sincerely cheerful voice that they couldn’t not wish him luck for later that day. So Ellen packaged the cake for him and he carefully loaded it into an ice chest in Baby. He couldn’t bring it home just yet, or Cas might see. 

 

Later That Afternoon

 

“Dean. Some bigwigs are coming for an emergency. There’s gonna be a meeting,” Benny said in Dean’s office while he was finishing up some paperwork for the evening. 

“I gotta place to be tonight, man”

“I know, I know. But we have to attend and you know it,”

Dean didn’t respond vocally, but instead shooed Benny out and rested his head on the palm of his hands. Tonight was supposed to be perfect. It was Cas’s first birthday since they were together together. It was also the first birthday Cas had gotten since, then. It was suppose to be a surprise; it was suppose to be special. Dean swore he’d kill whatever bigwig was getting in the way of that. 

He looked down to text Cas he’d be home late today, but, oh isn’t his lucky day! His phone is dead! 

“This can not be happening” Dean mumbled to himself.

He picked himself up and walked outside to the phone booth and with two fingers picked up the phone. Those things were filthy. He placed in his money and hoped Cas would answer; after a few rings Dean gave up. He could only hope Cas was okay. 

 

That Evening

 

Castiel glanced at the clock. It blinked 8:05 like a mantra to remind him that, yet again, no one would be celebrating his birthday with him. But that’s okay, he thought. It wouldn’t be the first time and he doubted it would be the last. He had expected Dean to at least text him happy birthday or if nothing else that he’d be late getting home. 

Cas curled up on himself on the sofa and stared blankly at the TV. He’ll be okay, he always had been. Cas didn’t consider himself someone to cry often, but he honestly felt that maybe this time with Dean would be different. So when he felt droplets of water slide down his cheeks, he almost mistook it for rain. But he wasn’t outside and it wasn’t raining. He wiped his tears and crawled off of the couch.

He opened the refrigerator and pulled out leftover Chinese food he and Dean had eaten the other night. He poured its remains into a bowl and put it in the microwave. This whole situation seemed very familiar to him. He remembered a night on the same day as this many years ago. He couldn’t remember how old he was, only that he had to heat something up late at night because, yet again, his parents forgot to feed him. He remembered staring at the microwave that night, listening to his parents scream at one another, eventually there was a slap and then a deafening silence. He recalls hearing the door slamming shut and then his father walking into the same kitchen he was in. His father didn’t acknowledge him that night. Not really. Acknowledging wasn’t cracking open a beer and slamming their son against a wall. 

“I will be okay,”

“I will be okay,”

“I will be okay,”

He said this a few times before he realised that the timer on the microwave was going off and that he was crying again. He wiped his cheeks and pulled out the Chinese food. He ate it alone in the dining room. He remembered buying this dining table with Dean. It was when they had first moved in together and they had gone shopping. It took them a good four hours to build it and he recalls their argument that Dean still shares at Winchester family gatherings:

“We were building this table, okay? It was from Ikea so we didn’t quite know how to build it and we got into the most heated argument. I think I said something along the lines of ‘Dammit, Cas. We can fix this!’ real dramatic like. And so Cas just says right back ‘Dean it isn’t broken’”

The memory makes Castiel smile for a brief moment before letting it fall. He finishes his food and puts the bowl in the sink. He glanced at the clock again.

8:30 the clock blinked back at him annoyingly. 

He padded off into his and Dean’s bedroom and stripped down into a pair of grey pajama pants and Dean’s old ACDC shirt. 

 

LIKE RIGHT FRIGGIN’ NOW 

 

Dean hurriedly parked into the parking lot of their apartment. He unlocked the car door and took out the hopefully-not-damaged-cake. He practically sprinted, albeit holding a cake, into the apartment building. It was late and no one was milling outside in the common room. Thankful for the fact he didn’t have to socialize he clicked the up button on the elevator. He stood waiting on it for a minute, but it was taking far too long.  
He opened the door to the emergency stairs and climbed them two at a time. Cas was probably already in bed. This was not how this was suppose to be.  
By the time he reached the top floor where their apartment was he was worn out; he was built, but he was still getting out of shape. “Too much office work” was what Cas had always said the reason for it was. Cas always said it jokingly but dean never listened to the comment, and instead would place a chaste kiss on his lips and continue whatever they were doing.  
He got out his keys and saw that his hands shook with nerves. This caused him to be even more delayed because it took him several times to open the lock. Once he had gotten it open, though he wasted no time pocketing his keys, he kicked the door open quietly with the toe of his boot.  
The apartment was dark and quiet except for the background of the TV. 

He was late.

This was a disaster, Dean thought. Maybe Cas was just watching TV. Yeah, he was just watching TV. But to no avail Cas was not watching TV and in his place was just a pile of blankets and a remote strewn on the other side of the couch. 

He let out a loud groan of frustration and walked back into the kitchen and placed the box of cake on the counter along with his present. He walked to the fridge to get a beer, something that had become habit ever since he was stressed and in college. He opened the door and remembered that Cas didn’t let beer be kept around the apartment at this time in the year. This just reminded Dean of why he wanted this birthday to be special; he let out another groan of frustration. He slammed the refrigerator door and went back to sit on the bar stool counter of their kitchen and for the second time today placed his head in the palm of his hands.

He sat there for awhile and before he knew it a warm body had sat beside him at the counter. He looked over at him and just hung his head again. God, he was beautiful, he didn’t deserve this. 

“I’m sorry,” is all he gets out before Cas is up again and pulling mugs from the cabinets. 

“Shh, it’s okay. I’m okay, it’s fine.” Cas turns around to give him a tight lipped smile and Dean can tell he’s been crying again. 

“No, no it’s not.” Dean says and Cas doesn't move to stop him this time. He just starts to make a pot of coffee out of their old coffee machine Dean used in college. 

“This was going to be perfect. God, Cas I’m so sorry. I bought you a damn cake and everything. Then they called a meeting and I couldn’t call you. You’ve already ate and everything and Jesus, I'm so sorry. You had a horrible childhood and never got any birthdays...this was going to be different.”

Cas doesn’t say anything and gave Dean his coffee black how he likes it, and sat beside him again sipping his own coffee. “A cake?”

“Yeah, Cas. A cake,” Dean gets up and goes to the box of cake and opens it. He pulls out the two tier cake and thanks whoever is listening that the cake isn’t damaged. It looks just as good as the morning he bought it. 

Cas moves to look at the cake and smiles the first genuine smile he smiled that day. The cake is beautiful. Dean knew just what to get. 

“I’d better get some plates then,” Cas says, letting the newfound albeit belated cheerfulness reach his voice.

Dean is looking at him again with that same ‘I’m so sorry’ look, but as Cas passes by him to get the plates he presses a light kiss to Dean’s nose. 

So they ate the cake and Dean told him repeatedly that he was beautiful and told him how Charlie made fun of him for doing something so ‘gay’ as putting flower language on the cake. Cas only chuckled and kissed Dean a little more. 

Dean’s present ended up being a photo album. The album itself Dean found in the baby section, it was white and had no words printed on the front, but it did have little bumble bees flying around the cover. Some of the photos were from before they had even started dating; such as high school. In the very back was a pressed Iris Flower and in Dean’s neat scrawl it said A New Beginning. Because that’s what this was. His and Cas’s new beginning together. 

As the night came to an end and they had crawled into bed, Cas rested his head on Dean’s chest and felt the steady rhythmic beat of his heart. He suddenly knew he was safe. 

“I love you,” Cas says because he really does.

“I love you too,”

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a little blue cake that I saw the other day; it had bumble bees on it. Everything else was completely improvisational but I think it turned out pretty good so I thought I'd share it. 
> 
> Any constructive criticism or comments are more than welcome, they'd mean a lot to me! You can find me on tumblr at Castielsprofoundbees.tumblr.com feel free to check it out and/or submit a prompt!


End file.
